THE CAUSE OF " APOPLEXY " IN WINTER-FED LAMBS 



Investigations at Cornell University Agricultural Experiment 



Station in 1910-11 



In order to get further data on the cause of " apoplexy " in winter-fed 

 lambs, an experiment was conducted at the Cornell University Agricul- 

 tural Experiment Station in the Vv^inter of 1910-11, on much the same 

 plan as the cooperative experiment at the farm of Chas. E. Shepard, 

 Batavia, N. Y., in 1909-10, described in full in Bulletin 285. 



PURPOSE OF THE I9IO-II INVESTIGATION 



The purpose of the investigation in 1910-11 was three-fold: 



( 1 ) To ascertain the cause of apoplexy in lambs ; 



(2) To determine the relative cost of gain in weight with narrow and 

 with wide rations ; 



(3) To determine the relative cost of gain in weight with rations with 

 succulent feed and with rations without succulence. 



THE LAMBS 



The feeding lambs used in the experiment were bought on the Chicago 

 market in the usual way. They were rather small, tending toward 

 " pony build." They showed some fine wool blood but evidently carried 

 more " down " blood than anvthing else. There were very few white 

 faces among them. Of the 325 lambs bought, 306 cost on the Chicago 

 market $6.35 per hundredweight, and 19 cost $6.44 per hundredweight. 

 They weighed an average of 50 pounds in Chicago. From these 325 

 lambs, 289 were selected for the investigation. 



PLAN OF THE INVESTIGATION 



The lambs were divided into four lots : Lot A contained 58 lambs, 

 divided into pens i, 2 and 3; Lot 15 contained 58 lambs, divided into pens 

 4, 5 and 6; Lot C contained 86 lambs, divided into pens 7, 8, 9 and 10; 

 Lot D contained '^■'J lambs, divided into pens 11, 12. 13 and 14. The pens 

 were arranged as shown in Fig. 15. This drawing also shows the dis- 

 tribution of the lambs among the pens. The double pens, containing 29 

 lambs each, were 103^ by 15 ft. ; the single pens, containing in some cases 

 14 lambs and in others 15 lambs, were 5 by 15 ft. As is shown in the 

 illustration, all the lambs were fed from double racks, one hole being 

 provided for each lamb. The type of double rack used is well illus- 

 trated in Fig. 16. The rack was 18 in. wide at the top, and tapered to 

 12 in. wide at the bottom. 



